Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
Second chapter: starts here. Well, not here, but down there. Ha! I'm so corny.
Hope you enjoy!
Alice sat as close to the wall as she could manage, squeezing her purse between herself and the unknown man next to her who had done nothing but smile at the wall ahead of him for the 15 minutes that the second train had left the station.
'Oh crap, this guy is what my mom always warned me about… now I'm going to be subject to horrible things that I'll have to repress far into my adult years and be rescued as a grandparent by a lonely neighbour that thinks he can change the world starting with the shrew next door! Ah! I don't want to be a shrew!'
"Excuse me, miss."
Alice's head shot to look at the face of the old man next to her, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. His eyes were faded and one was lolling off to the side while his creepy smile opened wider to expose his worn teeth and dated gums.
"Eh-ehh," her eye twitched and she cleared her throat, "yes?"
"Beautiful day out today, isn't it?"
His question was answered with a large boom of thunder while the train rolled to a stop at the next rural station. With a nod of his aged head, the strange man scooted to the edge of his seat and heaved himself up, weary of the other passengers exiting the train as well.
"Goodbye! Maybe we'll meet again sometime, eh?" The man's eyebrows shot to his forehead and raced back to their original position three times and then he left, shooting her a wink as he stepped onto the platform.
Slowly, cautiously, Alice reached for her makeshift, broken blockade and clutched it firmly to her chest, her mind blank as she tried to digest the fact that a creepy old man just made a pass at her. A public pass to make matters worse. Her contemplation time was cut short, however, as a tall, blonde man strode purposefully towards her and claimed the seat Mr. Creep had just vacated.
Alice started to regret even waking up. The new stranger sat rather too close for comfort and bent his head to her ear before she could even grab a fresh breath of individual air. Upon breathing in her lungs were filled with an intoxicating aroma of open skies and to be honest, deodorant. Which was not something she was sad to know.
"Look, I know that you have just gotten rid of your creepy neighbour, but I really need a favour miss and you're the only one on this train who can pull it off."
An alarm went off full blast in her head and her hand scrambled to find the entrance to her purse before this man uttered another syllable. To her surprise though the man immediately pulled back and pushed his hands out in an apologetic manner, his eyes wide with understanding and his blonde hair flipping as he shook her head.
"I'm afraid you've misunderstood me, miss! Look, you see that girl on the platform, about to board? She's the daughter of a friend of my father's, and ever since she has laid eyes upon me she has not left me alone for a moment. "
Alice's hand stopped rummaging around in her cluttered purse and her eyes narrowed at the panicking person trying to tell her something. What could this man possibly want from her, and did she really want to know when it came down to thinking that way? And what did he mean, the only one on this train who could pull it off? Alice's eyes roamed around the interior, seeing only elderly people or middle aged men and women reading the paper.
'Wait – did he just refer to the creepy old guy? What the hell! He was watching and amusing himself with my despair? What kind of person it this?'
"What the-"
The beautiful face twisted into an apologetic look, his eyes never leaving hers as he swung his left arm over her shoulders to pull her close. Alice stayed stiff in the new position, her eyes wide and small hands still clutching her purse in confusion and vigilance.
"Please, just play along." Alice's shoulders stayed as still as a rock. "And act natural, will ya?"
Instantly her shoulders released their tension and her hands flew from her handbag, her left to shove aside her lap occupant and then lay there calmly, while her right seized his left hand from around her shoulders and brought it to rest on his leg, her dainty fingers intertwining with his long, smooth ones in one fluid motion. As finishing touches she crossed her left leg over her right one and placed her short black haired head on his shoulder contentedly.
Alice didn't know why she immediately relaxed when he asked her to act natural – she barely knew what she was doing when her body reacted to his and made the changed in the way they presented themselves to the other passengers. Her face took on the appearance of tranquility and admiration while inside her head screamed at her, confused as to why she was helping out a stranger who had seemed like he poked fun at her moments earlier when talking about her last companion.
She could feel her fingers being crushed as a tall girl with honey-blonde hair stepped on the train, her sandals scuffling annoyingly as her valley girl voice yapped away on her bright purple cell phone. Alice and her new boyfriend shuddered at the same time and she hoisted her head to meet his ear.
"Oh gosh, that's bad. I'll be convincing for you – no one should have to suffer through that."
Her stomach fluttered when a small smile passed on his face after she whispered those words to him. Both of their eyes followed the girl in question as she made her way to the opposite end of the car, relief coursing through their bodies as she asked a woman is the seat next to her was taken.
'EVERYBODY GRAB A SPOON AND DO THE COOL WHIP … EVERYBODY GRAB A SPOON AND DO THE COOL WHIP…'
Alice closed her eyes in embarrassment as her phone rang at full volume, attracting the attention of every passenger that wasn't blocking out the world with music to her and the catchy television jingle ring tone. Her legs uncrossed and her left hand clawed its way to the purse that had been shoved under her seat, managing to grab the object and press the 'F-You' button, hopefully before –
"Jaspy?"
"Shit."
Silently, Alice cursed Rosalie and threw the phone back under her seat and winced as the shoes got closer to mixing with the snapping sound with a closing phone to spread terror throughout her small being. She couldn't help echoing the man's cry in her own mind, but she looked up at the blonde and smiled a friendly grin.
To their extreme misfortune the lady occupying the seat facing them immediately gathered her belongings and exited the transportation as a last minute decision. Alice and 'Jaspy' both glared through the window at the woman that they both now felt the need to hate. Alice's eye started to twitch as the valley girl snatched the now empty seat.
"Jaspy, who is this?"
The girl looked Alice up and down, a pout on her over-glossed lips and water drops on her stylishly messy hair. The pixie-like girl surveyed the annoyance silently, dissecting all she could tell of the woman from the clothes she wore and what type of purse adorned her tan arm.
'I am out of my freaking mind to play along with this. Just keep torturing me… maybe I'll end up saving a second sick puppy this morning.'
'Jaspy' cleared his throat and nodded his head sympathetically.
"I told you there was a reason that I couldn't see you, Amelia. I'm just sorry that you two had to meet this way - such a shame!"
Alice felt her hand being squeezed tightly and she snapped out of her talkative mind, back to the crazy morning which she was having.
"Oh, yes, such a shame," Alice said with a sad smile. "I am Mary, by the way." Pleasantly, Alice outstretched her left hand and waited for the girl across from her to take it, showing her amiable 'girlfriend' side. The three of them sat in silence as Alice's hand remained outstretched and alone. "Or not." She curled her fingers in and retracted her offered arm of friendliness as the other woman rejected its existence.
Brown eyes scrutinized bright blue ones as the hand lowered and Jasper coughed uncomfortably. Minutes seemed to tick by agonizingly, taunting the pseudo lovers who were tense as it was without the pressure of someone eying them suspiciously.
"So, Amelia, as you can see I possibly cannot accept your advances being the Southern gentleman I am."
Alice moved her blue eyes to the person beside her, shocked at the fact she didn't pick up on his light southern accent earlier and thankful for a disruption of the tense silence that had blossomed throughout the short time.
'A Southern gentleman? Seriously? Does he think that gentlemen randomly sit next to women who are sitting by themselves on morning trains and begs them to act like their girlfriend? I'd like to meet the family that raised this man to think that these actions constitute the label of 'gentlemen'. '
Nevertheless, Alice didn't let her exasperated emotions shine through to the people around her.
"Oh, I just love when you bring up your roots in conversations, honey." She smiled adoringly at the man and he smiled back with natural ease and warmth. Natural and the most beautiful thing she had seen.
Alice was lost in the smile that wasn't disappearing from the blonde's handsome face, which soon brought a red tint to her cheeks and a fluttering feeling in her stomach. A loud cough separated their eyes and aimed them the one who had disrupted the private moment.
"How did you two meet? How long have you been going out? Mary, what do you do for a living? Where do you – "
The train slowed to a stop as the girl spewed off question after question and knocked Alice out of her daydream she instantly went into when Amelia turned into the High Inquisitor.
'I really need to stop reading Harry Potter.'
She scanned the scenery and noted with alarm that it was her stop. Quickly calculating in her head, she blanched at realizing their awkward meeting had not spanned just a quick five minutes like it seemed, rather it had extended to the uncomfortable time of twenty minutes. Alice jumped out of her seat and reached blindly under her seat to grasp her portfolio and broken purse, whipping them out once her thin fingers wrapped around the different materials.
The blue eyes of the man stared at her in horror and he gripped their intertwined hands tightly. For a fleeting moment she had the urge to sit back down and do nothing but stay on the train with this man, holding his hand, all day. It would be the only high point of the long day looming ahead of her.
"I'm sorry, but it's my stop and I worked too hard on my presentation to miss it because I was on a train." She removed her hand from his warm clasp and slung her purse over her shoulder as best as she could then laid her hand on his soft cheek caringly. "Arrivederci, ragazzo piccolo."
She handed him a small smile then flitted off of the train, clutching her bags so she wouldn't drop them in a conveniently placed puddle. Alice turned back to the train as the other passengers filed out and noticed 'Jaspy' looking straight at her, his eyes staring her down. Giving him a small wave, she turned to walk toward the city business district while failing to keep the rain off of her carefully selected ensemble for the day. As soon as she reached a safe distance from the station she slid her purse from her shoulder and rummaged around in it for her cell phone so she could tell her friends what had happened on the second train. The awning she was meandered under did nothing to shield her from the darkening feelings that rose in her throat as her hand clasped at nothing that felt familiar.
"What on earth…" Her head snapped up and turned suddenly in the direction of the train that had left the station as a look of horror passed over her smooth features. "No fucking way." She stepped out from under the protective canopy and tilted her face to the sky, letting her voice ring loud and clear. "It better be two of the cutest and most pathetic puppies in existence!"
Welllll, thanks for sticking through no matter how many times you thought to yourself that this was a pointless task. Oh wait – I with you didn't think it was a pointless task! I worked at writing this. But if you like it, tell me so I can prioritize it on my list of things to write!
Tid-Bit Information Time:
Cheap umbrellas are the worst idea in all of America. And there are some pretty horrible ideas in America.
Thanks for reading!!
Love to All
Kat
You've already read, why not review?
